The Hitchhiker
by HeartOfDarkess
Summary: sUnable to cope with the fallout of losing everything, Bella runs from the only life she's known, only to cross paths with a mysterious hitchhiker in her travels. Will he be her saviour? Written for Fandom 4 Juvenile Diabetes. Bella/Jasper.


**This was the piece I donated for the Fandom4Juvenile Diabetes cause. My son has Type 1 diabetes so it's a matter close to my heart. Enjoy the story, thank you to all who donated and please let me know what you think.**

**Penname: HeartofDarkess**  
**Title: The Hitchhiker**  
**Rating and warnings: Rated M for Mature Themes**  
**Summary: Unable to cope with the fallout of losing everything, Bella runs from the only life she's known, only to cross paths with a mysterious hitchhiker in her travels. **  
**Banner creator:** **Christag Banners**

**BPOV**

I looked around the darkened room one last time, the empty space as void as my long dead heart. After fighting for so long, I'd lost the will to carry on. There was nothing left in my life that bound me to this place any longer, nothing tethering me to anything, in fact.

I had no job, no family, and Jake packed his bags and left when I saw them in town together, arm in arm, his actions leaving me with nothing but a gaping hole in my already broken heart.

I had finally hit rock bottom after months of slowly sinking into a hole so deep that there was nothing left to do except just…walk away.

Leave it all behind.

Start afresh.

As I packed my suitcase into the trunk of my beloved Oldsmobile 442, the light rain increasing in intensity, I stuffed the wad of cash Jake had thrown at me, as if to recompense me for what he'd done, into my pants pocket. As I jumped into the car, shaking the droplets of water out of my hair, and turning the key in the ignition, tears flowed freely as the grief took over.

I had a life, once.

A life that held promise, but what I didn't realize was that it had been built on nothing but a house of cards.

I had a home, a job that I loved and a man in my life who I thought loved me.

A man who I thought was going to be with me forever…standing by me no matter what.

Well, now I knew better. It was nothing but an illusion. And I'd given up everything to be with him.

And now, I was alone, for the first time in my life. That thought both frightened me and made me feel a sense of freedom I'd never expected, nor experienced before. Never again would I allow someone else to dictate terms. Never again would I let another person pervade my life like a noxious weed, ruling my head and my heart like some sort of dictator.

I'd been hurt so badly that I knew I had a long, hard road ahead of me before I could ever trust another again.

Not after the shock of discovering I was expecting Jake's child, only to find him responding to my news in a cold and distant manner.

Not after finding out just this week that he'd slept with a co-worker of his, Alice, when I was nearly three months into the pregnancy, just after I'd told him that I refused to have a termination.

And certainly, not after I'd miscarried in my fourth month and was left to deal with my grief over the loss without his support.

As the rain became heavier, the windshield wipers barely able to clear the water away enough for me to see three feet in front of me, I headed out of the miserable town of Forks, Washington, deciding to make my way to Seattle and get a room there before deciding my next move. I really didn't have a plan, but with the way the weather was closing in, I thought it best to stop there for the night before moving on.

As I headed out of town and toward the 101, the road that lay ahead unlit and narrow, I laughed bitterly as I turned on the radio and tuned it in until I came across a familiar song…one that spoke of how I felt trapped in my life, the dulcet tones of The Eagles' Hotel California causing me to sing along.

"Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place, such a lovely place…" I sang, gripping the steering wheel tightly, blinking back mournful tears as the song hit a nerve in me.

The words 'you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave' resonated with me, my feelings of being forever trapped in a cycle I couldn't break out of more than real, but Jake obviously didn't get that memo. He'd not only been checked out of our relationship emotionally, but physically as well and it wasn't long after that he dropped me like a hot potato when he couldn't cope with my emotional outbursts any longer, my frustration over his lack of empathy driving me to the point of madness.

As I checked the GPS, noting I was still a few hours away from Seattle, the rain began to pelt down, forcing me to slow down just so I could see.

It was then I spotted it.

A black Chevy, pulled off to the side of the road, and a lonely figure walking ahead of the obviously broken down vehicle, carrying a guitar case and a duffel bag. As I approached, he turned and stuck his thumb out, the man obviously broken down, the rain and darkness along this lonely stretch of road telling me we were a number of miles from Forks, and many more from the next town.

"Shit," I mumbled, slowing to a stop, knowing it was a risk to do so, but feeling as though there was no other alternative. He was stranded, and I just couldn't leave him here.

Fishing my pepper spray out of my purse, I slipped it in between the door and the driver's seat, just in case.

No sense in taking any chances.

It wasn't until I pulled over, his face coming into view as my headlights basked him in light that a spark of recognition flitted through me.

"What the hell? It can't be!" I hissed as he approached the car and opened the door, smiling as he poked his head in.

"Thanks for stoppin', ma'am. I had a bit of car trouble…oh um…hey," he said with widened eyes, his deep, southern voice laced with surprise.

"Hey yourself. And, it's no problem," I answered as he quickly threw his things on the backseat before he got in and closed the door, removing his black, soaking wet overcoat and placing it on top of his water soaked bag. Water dripping over his handsome face, my mouth fell open for a brief moment as I took him in, his black sweater, though loose on his body, didn't hide his perfect form.

"You're Isabella Black, aren't you?" he asked as I slowly pulled away from the curb.

I bristled.

Jake and I never did marry. Apparently he didn't see the value in a little piece of paper that told the world we were a couple. And I had since discovered that apparently he didn't see the value in anything much…at least not when it came to me or our relationship.

"No…it's Bella Swan, actually…always has been," I answered gruffly, gnashing my teeth together in response.

"Oh, God, I'm such an idiot! Sorry," he apologized.

"Not your fault," I returned as I sat there, trying to focus on the road ahead, all the while feeling his crystal blue eyes bore into the side of my head. I was pissed, even though it really had nothing to do with the poor guy who sat beside me, I couldn't help but be annoyed by his statement.

"Well, I know we've never been formally introduced, but my name's Jasper. Jasper Whitlock," he stated. "I remember you from the Christmas party last year. My…um…wife, Alice works with your…"

"Asshole of an ex-boyfriend? I know," I snapped, cutting him off, hating even hearing the mention of that woman's name.

An awkward silence followed for a few moments, and realizing that I didn't relish the idea of travelling the rest of the way with all this tension, I decided to change the subject.

"Where're you headed?" I asked.

"Hmmm…I don't really know," he said with a shrug, scrubbing his hands over his sodden face before running his fingers through his dark, wavy tresses.

"Oh, well, me either. But I'm heading for Seattle tonight and then going from there. That okay?" I asked.

"Suits me just fine," he answered warmly, his voice wrapping around me like molasses, that smile of his causing my mind to flood with memories of the past.

I remembered seeing Jasper holed up at the bar, alone, while Jake introduced me to Jasper's apparent skank of a wife at the Christmas party, the small gathering at the hospital my first social outing since the loss of our child not exactly where I wanted to be, but Jake insisted we needed to go out of obligation…oh and of course, to 'network'.

Network, my ass!

It was funny…even before I knew what was going on between them, I got a bad vibe from the moment I met that woman. As soon as Jake opened his mouth to introduce us, she blatantly ignored me while she fawned over him, touching him way too intimately as she informed him that she just _had_ to introduce him to one of the new doctors that was commencing in the New Year.

I found myself stifling my rage as she smiled at me insincerely before she dragged Jake away, the two of them leaving me standing there like a fool while they melted into the crowd. Not only did she give me the brush off that night, Jake never even bothered to check on me, or offer to get me a drink even once. I was pissed, frustrated, and on top of that…green with envy and as I watched the two of them work the room. I despised the fact that she was everything I wasn't.

Confident.

Flirty.

Pretty.

And as far as I knew, _she _didn't carry the excess baggage that would always follow me…weigh me down for the rest of my days. It was one of the reasons, I was certain, that Jake was attracted to her in the first place.

So, this was the poor sap who was married to that shallow, home wrecking bitch that had been carrying on an affair with Jake for months on end. I remembered how Jasper sat in the corner, his jaw tight as he watched on in silence while Alice flitted about the room, Jake on her arm, and basked in the limelight, keeping herself at the centre of everyone's attention.

Well, every _man's _attention, anyways.

Shit.

My mind whirred with one question after another.

Was he aware of the affair? And if he didn't know, did I really have the right to say anything? After all, he might know, but could have forgiven her…right? Could I take that chance…possibly contribute to wrecking another home in the process? Hell, I didn't even know that the bitch was married to Jasper, let alone if the guy knew about what went on, my asshole of an ex-boyfriend never mentioning whether or not his slut even had a significant other.

And now, here in my car, sat the one person who could possibly understand what I'd been going through, but at the same time…I found myself unable utter a single word about the situation.

"Nice weather we're havin'," he said with a nervous laugh, no doubt wanting to lighten the mood. I was sure that my angered expression probably scared him a bit, so couldn't blame him for trying to make idle chit-chat.

"Yeah," I said, furrowing my brow. Perhaps I should press him for information? What harm could it do? Then, maybe, I could find out, in an indirect way, if he knew what had been going on right under his perfectly proportioned nose. "Seattle's not much better, weather-wise. Planning on staying there long?"

"Don't know," he answered quickly.

"Oh," I said. "Me either. Got family or friends there?"

"No."

Hmmm. Well, it seemed that getting him to open up about his situation was going to be like getting blood out of a stone, his short, sharp answers telling me he really didn't want to discuss the subject. But, the thing is, I _needed _to know. Needed to see if the poor guy was being deceived, just like I'd been for months on end.

"What about you?" he asked unexpectedly.

"No-one," I answered, choosing not to elaborate either at first, but then I wondered. If I revealed a little more about my situation, would he? "I really haven't had the time think about anything beyond the fact that I have no intention of ever returning to Forks."

"Me either," he answered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head, and stare out the window and into the darkness, his expression contemplative.

Well.

Interesting.

He was running away. Could it be that we were both running from the same thing?

I bet my ass we were!

"Oh. So…you and, um, your wife looking at relocating?" I hedged, pressing him further.

There.

I said it.

Surely, he had to tell me about his situation now!

"Nope," he answered with a dark chuckle, at least confirming that he had left that bitch.

"I'm sorry," I said, thinking that he was better off without her, but wanting to tell him so even more.

"Not your fault," he said with a shrug, repeating what I'd told him, his long fingers reaching to turn up the radio, the song playing causing me to smile as once again, my mind was cast back to the night of that Christmas party.

Feeling a little tipsy, I had approached the bar to refill the third drink I'd downed in an hour. As the cheesy Christmas carols CD that had been playing on a constant loop since our arrival was finally switched for something much better…Adele's song 'Make you Feel my Love' reverberated around the crowded room. The lyrics conveyed something I longed to feel and experience, but something that had eluded me my entire life. Unconditional love. Having someone in my life who wanted to do things for me simply because they loved me was such a foreign concept that I found the idea of it almost laughable, and remembered snorting at the sentiments the song contained, until I turned to sit on one of the stools at the end of the bar, and felt my laughter die in my throat.

Tall and lithe, dark haired with just a tiny amount of scruff and dressed in a dark blue suit and white shirt, crystal blue eyes were firmly fixed on my own and as I caught him blatantly staring, he swallowed heavily as his eyes held mine for what seemed like an eternity. Adele's sultry voice continued to croon out the lyrics and I remained there, transfixed, but as she sang, '_I can make you happy, make your dreams come true, nothing that I wouldn't do, go to the ends of the earth for you…to make you feel my love', _I felt my skin prickle with a heat I'd never felt before.

And as the song ended, I found myself unable to move or speak. In that moment, the heat turned up a notch as his hypnotic and suddenly darkening eyes then began to meander down my body, my tight red dress that I had worn in my failed attempt to hold Jake's attention leaving little to the imagination. Finally, his eyes met with mine once more, and it was at that precise moment that Jake walked toward the bar to let me know he was ready to leave. The look of desire that was so apparent moment before vanished into thin air as he shook his head, Jake's appearance breaking the invisible tether between us. Standing to his feet, he swallowed the rest of his whiskey, placing the empty glass on the bar before he turned and left without a word or a backward glance.

As I sat in the car, suddenly sensing his nearness, I found myself blushing, realizing that the moment that passed between us the most significant thing I remembered about that day.

"Bob Dylan wrote it, ya know," he stated, his honeyed voice breaking through my thoughts and recollections.

"What?" I asked.

"That song. It's one of Dylan's. It's a great song, and I like how Adele's interpreted it," he said with a smile, and as he spoke, I felt my skin begin to turn into gooseflesh while at the same time, I felt his eyes flitting across my body before he set them squarely on the side of my head once more.

"Yeah, it is," I muttered before clearing my throat.

"The guy's an ass," he whispered.

"Huh?"

"For letting you go. Big. Giant. Ass."

I couldn't help but snort in response and let out a tiny giggle. "Thanks. I could say the same about your ex," I added, still trying to work out if he knew. "Beats me why people stab you in the back…but what can you do?" I let slip, my eyes darting toward him as I, once again, attempted to get him to open up.

"Yeah, well you know what they say…two asses that stay together…play together," he muttered, more or less confirming he was aware of what was going on.

"So you…um…know about…" I hesitated, swallowing heavily, hoping he'd fill in the gaps.

"Their affair? Oh yeah. I suspected something was going on for a while, but she finally confessed her sins tonight," he said bitterly. "Said that now the cat was out of the bag as far as you finding out was concerned, she wanted me to move out, and that asshole to move in because he was sick of staying at a hotel. Even saved me the trouble by having my bags packed and waiting at the door."

"Oh, shit, Jasper. I'm really sorry," I said.

"Not your fault," he said once more. "Besides, we'd been growing apart for some time. I've been looking for a reason to get on with my life, so really, you did me a huge favour by finding out their dirty little secret," he said.

"What do you want to do now that it's over?"

"Get a divorce, for one thing. Then, I might look at picking up some work playing my music. It was pretty slim pickings in and around Forks to get a regular gig, and I really miss performing," he said.

"Do you write your own songs?" I asked.

"Sure do."

"Well now's your chance to start afresh…maybe do things _you _want to do for a change," I said with a smile.

"You know what? I'm actually looking forward to it, too. So…what's your story? You a Doctor as well?"

"I was a nurse. Worked right alongside Jake, as a matter of fact, until I gave up work last year…"

"Oh?"

I shook my head, wordlessly telling him I didn't want to discuss it further. Silence ensued once more and continued for several minutes, frustrating me to the bone, and as I fumbled with a way to change the subject, I felt his eyes on me once again.

"Um, Bella…can you pull over?" he asked.

"What? Why?" I questioned anxiously.

"Please…can you just do it?"

"Okay, sure," I said, frowning with confusion, pulling over to the side of the road, wondering if he was set on getting out of the car and walking the rest of the way. I turned to look at him, filled with uncertainty as he unbuckled his seatbelt, but instead of opening the passenger side door and making a run for it, he shifted in his seat and turned to face me. The darkness enveloped us as I killed the engine and switched off the headlights, the rain thundering down around us as I watched and…waited.

Though it was difficult to see his face, I knew his mind was ticking over, the contemplative huff he let out making me think he was deciding on something. And then, I heard him clear his throat before he muttered something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out.

"What did you say?" I asked, instinctually leaning closer so I could hear him.

"I said…I know what happened. Bella, I'm so sorry that Jake didn't support you when you lost your child…"

I drew in a gasp, my mouth going dry as it fell open in shock. "You know? But…how?"

"Alice. She isn't exactly the most discreet person in the world, and I overheard her talking about it at that party."

"Oh," I said, mortified, tears prickling my eyes yet again as I pictured her taking delight in gossiping about the most personal loss I'd ever known to anyone who'd listen, with Jake probably playing the innocent victim right alongside her.

"Bella…I want to offer you something I fear you didn't get when you needed it most. I know it's probably too late, but may-may I hug you?" he asked nervously.

I let out a sigh, a tear trickling down my face as I regarded him. How was it that this man didn't know me from Adam, but still knew what I needed more than anything? How was it that his mere presence seemed to be slowly breaking down my carefully constructed walls when I thought them impenetrable? How was it that I found myself unable to find a reason to say no to his request? And how was it, as I nodded and gave him permission to comfort me, that as soon as he reached out and pulled me into his arms…as soon as I was in his warm embrace, I'd never felt anything more right?

"It's okay…let it out…" he soothed, holding me to his chest as I the dam burst and I get go for the first time, sobbing and crying as his strong arms embraced me…comforted me. Buoyed me.

Time stood still as whispered words of comfort and assurance left his lips, and as he rocked me gently in his arms, not letting go until the tears stopped, I finally began to feel better. And as I reluctantly began to move away from him, his soft, barely audible, "No," prompting me to stay where I was, I looked up at him, his eyes filled with so much emotion that I had a hard time deciphering them. As he opened his mouth, he took a deep breath before he spoke, while offering me a small smile at the same time.

"I know this probably sounds insensitive, but when it all came out about Alice's affair with Jake...I was actually relieved," he confessed.

"You were? Why?" I asked.

"When I saw you that night, I wanted you so much, but once I realized you were with Jake, there was no way I could've even contemplated pursuing you. These last six months have been torture because you're all I've thought about ever since," he confessed.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really," he answered, and in response I drew in a gasp as his words of assurance soaked in, my heart threatening to leap out of my chest, while at the same time, butterflies battered low and persistent in my stomach.

"And it doesn't bother you that I have…baggage?" I questioned anxiously, arching my brow.

"Honey, you don't have baggage. You just need someone in your life who supports you…someone who understands where you're coming from, that's all," he responded.

"And do you see yourself as being that someone?" I asked boldly, biting my lip, my pulse racing as I waited for his answer.

"Yes," he whispered sweetly, nodding his head.

"Oh, God," was all I could manage, overwhelmed by his assurances, closing my eyes as feelings I'd never experienced before washed through me.

"Bella…please, honey, I know you've just broken up with him, but I need you so much," he whispered. My eyes flew open and widened right before he pulled me impossibly closer and placed a sweet, gentle kiss on my lips. As he pulled back and gave me a tentative smile, watching and waiting for my response, instead of pulling away, I found myself moving closer and grinning widely in return.

"I need you too," I admitted in a whisper before I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back with such ferocity that I even surprised myself…sighing into his mouth as I conveyed to him with all I had that I felt the same way.

And we sat in the confines of my beat up but much loved car, with nothing but our panting breaths and moans of pleasure to compete against the sound of the rain, Jasper's lips and arms and body and sweetness became a salve to my gaping heart.

And…finally, yes…finally…I felt as though my life was about to begin….

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think with a review. I pray that in his lifetime, a cure will be found for this disease.**


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